Silicon Valley’s ‘Hacker Hostels': America’s Next Top Model, But for Startups?

Anti-status symbols for the new American dream.

In the New York Times today, Brian X. Chen covers the proliferation of “hacker hostels,” in Silicon Valley. These non-descript, sparsely-furnished buildings codify everything that that tech industry likes to valorize about the ascetic life of a young founder. Don’t believe us? The accompanying slideshow actually features an artfully-arranged photographof Ramen noodle packets . . . on a bunk bed.

Each Chez JJ house has a different vibe. The Mountain View house tends to be oriented toward start-ups, with many of the residents working on new apps or Web sites. They try out their sales talks on one another before pitching investors.

Aside from the coworking and the self-described nerdiness, however, it sounds like a romanticized version of, say, a tiny Manhattan apartment with a rotating stream of models or a seedy Hollywood apartment complex populated by actors hoping for their first big break. Of course, until some producer greenlights “America’s Next Top Coder”–Paul Graham as Tyra Banks?–there’s just as little guarantee of a prize at the end of your stay.